Keep the Football Still
by LoadedTrapeze
Summary: Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Blind as a bat? ClarkKentOC  Disclaimer: I do not own the Man of Steel nor any of that.
1. Chapter 1

I just thought I would post a Superman story I started a few years ago. Back then I only got up to halfway through Chapter3 but I plan to keep it going. You'll probably be able to notice where the old writing ends and the new one begins. hahahah

As always, criticisms are welcome. Flamers, too, as long as you aren't rude about it.

LoadedTrapeze

She was just a simple girl. She had curly hair, brown eyes, developing body, and wore nice clothing. She lived on a farm with horses, pigs, cows, and the crop. All in all, she was a simply a normal country girl.

_'So why did this have to happen to ME?'_ She thought in a panic.

"Quickly! Help me!!" Her mother screamed at her.

Grabbing a rope hanging nearby she threw the end to her mother. "Grab on."

"Oh, but Anna I'll get rope burn!"

"Either burn on the hand or permanently ruined shoes."

Her mother screamed and grabber for the rope as Anna began to pull her out. She scrambled to get out of the mud hole she had landed in after breaking through the wooden planks on the walkway.

"Oh GROSS." Her mother squealed.

"Now leave."

"But honey, I just got here!"

"Leave." Her mother shook her head. "Fine, then I will. And I won't come back until you're gone."

"Anna, please! I don't understand why you hate me so much. All I did was try to help you out!"

"HELP ME OUT?" Anna turned to her mother in a fury. "You tried to sell dads farm! MY farm! You may have hated it here but that doesn't mean I ever did. I love this old place and you tried to sell it out from under me! And for what? To pay off your mortgages in the city?"

"Darling, you have to understand! Times were tough and your father left me nothing but a few horses."

"He left you the most precious things in the world to him. I thought that would have been enough." Anna made her way to the stables. "Why don't you just go back to your precious city that you love so much?"

"Anna. Please. I need the money from this house. You have no idea what-"

"You're right, I have no idea. Mainly because leaving for six years doesn't really explain much." Jumping onto her horse, Lucy, she glanced back at the pitiful display that was her mother. "If you need the money so bad take the bloody house. You've killed everything else in my life, why not kill my home, too?" She threw the keys into the mud at her mother's feet and galloped off through the fields.

"Anna, darling! Come back!! The weather network calls for a storm coming soon!"

Pushing Lucy to go faster, Anne whispered in her ear. "Come on, Luce. Take us as far as you want." And they continued to ride without a backward glance into the woods as dark storm clouds began to emerge.

A few hours later a confused looking Anna was beginning to slump down on an equally tired looking Lucy.

"Lucy, where have you brought us? I've never seen this road before."

Anna dismounted carefully, walking side by side with her best friend. Lucy's relaxed ears twitched as the rain began to fall.

"Oh, perfect." Annie sighed. "Girl, we don't seem to be having much luck today."

The rain poured down harder as farmland came into view. "Well, I'll be damned... seems like you brought us a few towns over. Nice going, girl!" Anna smiled and kissed the side of Lucy's already soaked face.

Suddenly, with an expression of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, Lucy stopped. Her head shot up and she became perfectly still. Before Anna could even blink Lucy had dashed off through a field towards a farm in the distance.

"LUCY!" Anna screamed and began running after her. Trying desperately to keep up she threw off her hat and took off her constricting boots.

Keeping an eye on the horse as she ran, Anne tried to keep a look for where she might be heading. And seeing how they were both at a run through an empty field it wasn't too hard to do.

_'Heading for that barn.'_ Anna thought to herself. _'Probably smelt the food. __FAT HORSE!'_

As the horse disappeared behind the barn Anna was just making her way around the crops, careful as not to hurt any of it.

Slowing down to a jog Annie studied the land she was currently trespassing on. The crops were well nourished, the earth looked healthy, the barns paint didn't chip, and the house looked as perfect as a dream.

"Beautiful.." She breathed out. "SO much better than my ramshackled excuse for farmland." She jogged around the barn, searching for Lucy and trying to steady her breathing. Turning a corner she expected to see the horse but she didn't see an animal of any kind.

"Lucy?" She hollered out. "Lucy, answer me girl!"

Hearing a neigh from inside the barn she searched for the door and ran inside.

"Lucy?" She whispered. Sneaking around the barn cautiously so she didn't step on anything unexpected.

"Lucy." Looking everywhere but right in front of her, she ran into a table. Affectively shaking every object on it and making a whole lot of noise. Wincing at the pain and the loud noise she turned to set off running, but found herself colliding with yet another solid object and flying backwards.

"Oh my goodness... Miss? Are you alright?" A soothing and concerned voice asked her from above.

She groaned in response from her position on the floor.

"Miss?" The voice held out it's hand. "Take me hand, I'll help you up."

Anna took the mysterious hand and was suddenly back on her feet. Raising her eyes she got a good look at the brick wall that had knocked her down.

Muscles. Smooth dark hair. Gorgeous eyes. Many geek like qualities. And tall. Very tall.

_'__Talls__ nice.__ I like tall.'_ She thought as she watched his facial features as he towered over her. _'Oh yes. Tall's good.'_ Her thoughts were stunned silent after the tall factor.

"Miss?" She made the noise of a complete idiot as she mentally kicked herself for being so braindead.

"Miss? Can you hear me?"

"Anna." She coughed. "My name is Anna."

"Clark." He smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Anna began to fidget as an uncomfortable silence settled in.

"Umm..." They both started at once, then laughed nervously.

A neigh broke the silence and made Anna gasp.

"Oh! I can't believe I completely forgot! Clark, I am SO sorry for trespassing and interrupting your day, but you see my horse ran off and I chased her to here, so.." She took a breath in and looked around. "Mind if I go find her?"

"Yes, of course. Go ahead. It's n-no problem." He smiled warmly. "She might be over by the food. Come on, I'll show you."

Anna laughed. "Figures. Knowing Lucy it's probably all gone by now."

"Lucy? Interesting name for a horse."

"Yeah, I know it's a person name but... it's sort of an embarrassing story." Clark chuckled.

"Well, we all have embarrassing stories to tell. How you named a horse can't be that bad."

"True... When I was a kid my all time hero was Lucy from the Peanuts comics. You know, the one that would always rip the football away from Charlie Brown at the last minute? Well... since I had always wanted to be a superhero when I was growing up my father decided that I needed a tough sidekick, so he got me Lucy. And we've been best friends ever since." Anna let out a frustrated sigh. "Except for moments like this."

Clark laughed as he led the way to the food troughs. "I love that story, it's not embarrassing at all. It's really nice. Your father sounds like quite the guy." He pointed ahead of them. Two horses stood together. One of them was Lucy, looking awfully fond of the other horse. "I have a story like that myself."

"Oh, really?"

"Really." He stroked Lucy's mane gently. "Lucy. Anna. Meet Pegasus." Clark glanced back at a very amused looking Anna. "It looks like love at first sight."

Anna laughed and stroked Pegasus' mane. "Gee, if he's half as charming as his owner Lucy is never going to leave."

Out of the corner of her eye Anna watched Clark adjust his glasses and suddenly turn very shy.

A crash of thunder broke the easy silence and startled both the horses and their owners.

"Maybe you should go back to your home before the storm gets too out of hand." Anna looked outside a nearby window as it started to pour.

"Yeah, I... I suppose so." She mounted Lucy carefully as not to hurt her bare feet. "It was a real pleasure to meet you, MrClark." She stuck out her hand for him to shake. "Maybe I'll drop by sometime. Pegasus looks like he could use a friend to eat with."

"Maybe I'll see you around." He shook her outstretched hand before Lucy and Anna made their way out of the barn.

Watching as she left the barn Clark turned back to Pegasus. "Well that was interesting, wasn't it boy?" He stood there momentarily not making a move. "You do think she has a place to go, don't you? I mean, I just assumed since she has a horse and spoke about her father.." Pegasus let out a gust of air on Clarks hand. "What was I supposed to do? I'm only seventeen, and my parents aren't home. I've never had a girl over with them away. Goodness knows how they'd react!"

Pegasus reared his head up and down frantically as Clark heard a strange noise far off in the distance. An odd thud followed by a large splash and weak murmuring.

"Anna..." Clark whispered. "Stay here boy. No use you getting stuck out there, too."

And with that Clark ran off in the direction of the unsettling noises.


	2. Chapter 2

Clark was there. Not a moment too soon, by the look of it.

And there was Anna. One hand tangled in Lucy's reigns and the rest of her in a large puddle of water, face down, with a tree branch over her torso. It hadn't been raining long, and this place wasn't that far from Clark's farm, but still it was the first place to flood.

Clark threw the branch off her and pulled Anna out of the water, unwrapping her hand. He checked for her vitals and made sure she was alright.

"Nothing but a slightly bleeding forehead." He said to himself as he picked her up and grabbed Lucy's reigns. "Come on, Lucy. Come on.." He beckoned the horse, and she did exactly as he said. As fast as they could go they made their way back to the farm.

It was a blur. A very painful blur.

Anna groaned and attempted to roll over but found herself unable to do so due to more massive blurring pain. Opening her eyes slowly she looked around and counted herself lucky she wasn't looking at the inside of her own casket.

"Ahh, my head.." She whispered with a wince. Coughing at the dryness of her own throat she moves until she is sitting upright.

Glancing out the window near the bed she noticed that the storm had almost blown over.

_'You can almost see the moon.'_

Taking a look around the room she noticed a figure sleeping on a nearby rocking chair. She got up a little bit at a time and made her way over to the chair, slowly poking the sleeping figure.

"Hello?" She poked it harder. "Helloooo?" The body jumped and startled Anna, causing her to scream. "HOLYHELL."

"WHAT-" It looked up at Anna. "Oh, Anna. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Clark? ...I almost gave YOU a heart attack? HA."

Clark stood up and transported Anna back into bed.

"You shouldn't be walking around yet! You had quite the accident there."

"Yeah... How... How did you find me in time?"

"Just lucky I guess." He gave a shy shrug.

"Am... Am I back at your place?"

"Yes. In the guest room." Anna's eyes became very heavy.

"Why am I-" YAWN. "Why did you bring me here?" Her eyelids became heavier.

"Because you're the most beautiful woman in the world and I want to make mad passionate love to you for the rest of our lives."

Anna's eyes flew open. "What did you say?"

"I said 'because I didn't want you waking up in a hospital bed all alone without anyone you know or love in your life.'"

A feeling of immense foolishness ran over Anna. "Oh! Yeah.." She coughed painfully.

"You should relax. You're looking a little pale. I'll get you some water and then we can talk."

"Talk? Can't I just sleep?"

"No! You just woke up and you shouldn't fall asleep again until we know how your head is doing."

Clark turned and headed for the door, opening it in a somewhat nervous manner.

"Clark?" He looked back over his shoulder, raising his eyebrows in question. "Th-thank you. Very much. For everything. You've done so much for me and you don't even know me."

"It's my pleasure." He gave her a warm smile. "I'll be right back. Try not to sleep."

Settling back against the pillows, contentness warming her body, she heaved a tired sigh. Pulling the blankets further over herself as she felt the material between her fingers. She focused on the door and it slowly began to sway back and forth, as if it had been pushed.

_'Just a wind?'_ A scratching sound came from the end of the bed. Leaning forward to investigate a dog jumped up onto her. _'OHGOD.'_ Anna started laughing as the dog began to lick her face and hands. Looking down she had finally realized that her clothes were gone. A frilly pink cotton nightgown had taken the place of her usual attire. _'Clark must've..._' A blush crept up on her cheeks as she continued to pet the dog, somewhat distractedly.

"Here's your water! And I brought some fruit, just in case you're hungry."

Anna's eyes snapped up and looked at Clark who was standing in the doorway holding a glass of water and a bowl of sliced fruit.

"I see you've met the dog." She smiled brightly and nodded.

"He's a real rascal."

"You should see him play fetch. He never gets the ball. He just runs a bit and then looks at you." Placing the water and fruit on the nightstand he walked back over to the rocking chair and took a seat. "So, shall we talk?"

"We shall talk!"

A good few hours of talking and Anna was wide awake. Wide awake and on the verge of hyper. She loved the stories Clark had to offer her.

"Oh WOW. You did that all by yourself in a day?"

"I sure did! Isn't it swell?"

"It certainly is!" Anna looked over the old photographs of Clark's childhood treehouse. "I never knew someone could build something so quickly and not have it look like a complete dump." Clark smiled with pride.

"Yeah. I woke up before the sun rose to start that one. But the tree it was in was struck by lightning not long after that."

"Aw.. I'm sorry to hear that. I guess all great things must come to an end sooner or later."

"Unfortunately. So, what about you? Have you ever built anything with your own hands?"

"Yes, actually. My farm. Well... it was my father's farm at the time. We built it together, just the two of us."

"It was your father's? It isn't his anymore?" Anna shook her head.

"It's mine now. See, he died a few years ago. He was hit by a car." She fiddled with her empty water glass. "My mother kept me on the farm until I was close to finished high school, and then one day she was gone."

"Gone?"

"Gone. I come home from school to find a note on the table saying 'Dear hun, gone on small vaca. Be back soon. x-o-x-o' And then she showed up a while after that and tried to sell the farm, but couldn't since it was in my name. And yesterday she showed up telling me to sell the farm and everything on it right away to the first bidder and move to New York with her and the new hubby." She set down the glass on the stand. "She came back after all this time so she could get the money from selling my farm."

"I'm sorry you've gone through that, Anna. It's not fair." He gave her a reassuring smile and glanced at the clock. "It's getting pretty late, and I think you're safe to sleep. Maybe we could continue this conversation tomorrow?"

"Sounds good." Clark headed for the door, leaving his finger on the lightswitch as he glanced at Anna.

"Goodnight, Clark. Sleep well."

"You too, Anna." He turned off the light and closed the door, heading off to his own room.

Anna awoke the next morning with a smile and the sun shining warmly on her face. She took a deep breath in and sighed, sitting up carefully to get a better look at the clock on the stand.

"9:00? I haven't woken up this late in... ever." She whispered to herself.

Wiping the sleep from her eyes she got out of bed and looked out the window. She grinned as she saw Clark playing with the dog on his way back to the house with the mail. As she turned she noticed some clothing folded neatly on a chair. Changing quickly and heading downstairs she set course for the kitchen.

Clark walked through the door just as she made her way into the room.

"Scrambled eggs, bacon, and English muffins."

"Smells amazing!" Anna sat down in front of one of the plates waiting for Clark to sit down across from her before she took her first bite. "It's delicious, Clark!"

"Thank you. My mother taught me." Clark smiled and poured himself a glass of orange juice. "Sleep well?"

"Oh, yes. Better than I have in a while."

"Glad to hear it."

After a good breakfast, in which Anna stuffed her face with no shame at all, Clark placed the dishes in the sink and let the warm water run over them. Getting out the dish soap and glanced over at Anna as she sat awkwardly at the table.

"Umm.. I feel pretty useless right now." Anna stood up. "With all you've done for me, could you at least let me clean the kitchen for you?"

"No. But-" he tossed her a dish towel. "you can help."

Anna smiled at him and they began to clean together and tell each other the dumbest jokes they could remember from elementary school.

After they finished cleaning and everything was put away Anna stood by Clark and just stared at him.

_'How could one boy be so nice?'_ Anna thought as she stood with her hand on the edge of the sink.

Clark looked at Anna with a questioning gaze as she just watched him leaning against the cabinets.

"Anna?" Anna blinked as if waking from a dream. "Anna? Are you alright?" Anna nodded. "Do you need to sit down?"

"No, no. I'm fine. It's just..." She walked closer to him. "You have helped me so much. You've been so nice to me, before you even knew my name. I haven't known such kindness since my father died."

Anna walked right up to him and hugged him tightly. Feeling a tad nervous until she felt him hug back. She sighed into the hug, feeling the warmth of Clark engulf her body slowly.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"You're welcome, Anna." Clark responded tenderly.

Staying there for just a few moments longer she began to pull away.

"You're so warm!"

Clark laughed and shied away. "I suppose I feel warm because you're so cold." He started rubbing her arms up and down. "You are really cold." Clark hugged her again, rubbing her back. "Maybe you should put a sweater on." Ruffling her hair and pulling away he walked out of the room only to come back seconds later with a wool sweater.

"Thanks..."she put it on. "Again." She walked into the living room, eyeing the pictures that were displayed everywhere. "Cute kid! Is he your cousin?" Anna pointed to the picture of a skinny and lanky little boy with glasses holding a bottle rocket.

"Actually, umm..." Clark laughed nervously. "Thaaat's me."

Anna's jaw dropped open. She looked at Clark and compared him now to him then. "No way." She shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"Why not?"

"You were so skinny! So lanky! So... small! Those glasses look so awkward on you! And look at you now. None of those things. And no glasses. You don't even look the same."

Clark reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses, putting them on with a smirk as Anna's eyes widened.

"See? Glasses."

"I never would have guessed it." She paused. "They look good on you."

"I thought they looked awkward?"

"When you were skinny and looked like they were crushing you, sure. But you've obviously... changed."

Anna moved on to the next picture. It was one of a man and a woman at their wedding. "Are they your parents?" Clark nodded. "Where are they?"

"Are their friends place. Some kind of problem that needed solving. They should be back either tonight or tomorrow morning."

"Alright. Good. I think I'll need to talk to them."

"About what?"

"For one thing, how great a son they raised. For another, if they need a farmhand."


End file.
